Adventures in Jelly Making

Posted September 2nd, 2009 by MamaArcher 7 Comments »

About a month ago our family did something we had never done before.  We made jelly!  Since we are living in Alaska we decided to make an Alaskan jelly.   It was a great family activity.  We had fun, provided food, learned to do something new, and it tastes great too!  We made Fireweed Jelly.  Here is a photo time line of our adventure.

So what is Fireweed?

Fireweed is a flowering plant with pinkish-purple petals that grows wild and in abundance here in Alaska.

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First you find a good spot and pick the flowers.

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Aren’t the flowers pretty?

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Cooking the flowers, draining,  add in pectin and some other stuff……

It does make the house a little stinky.

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Make sure not to forget the HUGE amount of sugar you need to add.

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Then you funnel in the jelly, place the lids on, boil the jars for 10 minutes, then sit and listen for the jar lids to “pop”.

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Here is a view of the finished product.  Good enough to eat!  Pretty too!

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Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in Alaska, Homeschooling, Nature
7 Responses to “Adventures in Jelly Making”
  1. Miss Rachel Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 9:19 am

    That looks like fun. I will have to look up fireweed. :) You gonna post the recipe of it too?

    Love,
    Rachel
    .-= Miss Rachel´s last blog ..WW – Quick Lunch… =-.

  2. SoCalVal Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 11:33 am

    What a great project for the kids and adults! I miss making jelly this year. I think we might have fireweed here in CO – I will have to check it out and see if I could make jelly out of it!!! Havve a great week!!!
    .-= SoCalVal´s last blog ..Colorado Zoo =-.

  3. MamaArcher
    Twitter:
    Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 4:02 pm

    Rachel, here is the link for the recipe…
    http://alaskaoutdoorjournal.com/Departments/Recipes/Jams/fireweedjelly.html

    Valerie-Not sure if they have it in CO or not. I do not remember it being there but who knows.

  4. Miss Rachel Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    Thanks for the link for the recipe. I did a little research and found that most parts on the fireweed plant are edible, and can be used in medcinal remedies. I thought it was a very interesting study… thanks for sharing. :)
    .-= Miss Rachel´s last blog ..WW – Quick Lunch… =-.

  5. DrillerAA Says:
    September 3rd, 2009 at 2:57 am

    I can still remember picking blackberries and making the jelly with my grandmother. It was great fun. We also made lye soap. Great family memories indeed.
    .-= DrillerAA´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday =-.

  6. Sisterlisa Says:
    September 5th, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    So just what does this taste like?
    .-= Sisterlisa´s last blog ..Making Twitter Friends =-.

  7. MamaArcher
    Twitter:
    Says:
    September 5th, 2009 at 2:09 pm

    SisterLisa–
    It is hard to describe— but it is very yummy!